The 2020 primaries are starting. Here’s how to vote in North Carolina.
The 2020 primary elections have begun in North Carolina, with mail-in ballots now available for people who choose to use absentee voting.
In-person early voting won’t start until Feb. 13, though, and Election Day isn’t until March 3. So undecided voters still have time to make up their minds.
With upcoming deadlines, and ever-changing rules on voter ID, it can be hard to keep all the rules straight. So here are some key dates and facts to know whether you’re trying to vote for the first time or the 30th time.
The first step is to make sure you’re registered — and, if you’ve moved lately, that you’re registered at the right address.
Go to the N.C. State Board of Elections website at www.ncsbe.gov to find more information about all things related to voting, including key deadlines, how to register to vote or how to update your voter registration.
And if you have questions that aren’t answered here, go to https://bit.ly/2RgwEhw and ask us.
Key dates and deadlines
Primary Election Day: March 3.
Voter registration deadline: Feb. 7. (But people who miss this can still use same-day registration during early voting. Read on.)
In-person early voting: Feb. 13-29.
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Feb. 25.
Deadline to vote absentee: Must be postmarked no later than March 3.
How to register
To register you’ll have to provide your name, address and date of birth, and swear under penalty of perjury that you’re a citizen. You then pick which party you want to join, which determines which party’s primaries you’ll be able to vote in. However, if you pick “unaffiliated,” you can choose which party’s primary to vote in during each individual election.
Those forms can be found online at www.ncsbe.gov/Voters/Registering-to-Vote or at at some government buildings including every county’s elections office and libraries. Other offices, like the DMV or DSS, are also required to provide voter registration services.
People who plan to vote on Election Day for the primary, which is March 3, must register to vote no later than Feb. 7. However, people who miss that deadline can still register at the polls during early voting, as long as they bring an acceptable form of identification showing their name and address. That can include a driver’s license, utility bill, bank statement or other such official documents.
Finally, people who don’t register in time to vote for the primary election can still vote in the general election in November, as long as they meet the deadlines for registering then.
Voting locations and requirements
People who don’t know where their Election Day polling place is, or who want to find early voting locations in their county, can get that information from their county elections office or at www.ncsbe.gov/Voters/Voter-Tools.
Photo identification won’t be required to vote in the primary election, due to a recent court ruling. However, it’s possible that it might be required during the general election.
Absentee voting
Anyone in North Carolina can request a mail-in ballot, through what the state calls absentee-by-mail voting.
But they are especially helpful for people who may need help to vote, or who can’t get to the polls in person — for example, voters who have disabilities, have trouble reading, are hospitalized, live in a nursing home, live overseas or are deployed outside of North Carolina for military service.
For the most part, people who want to vote by mail have to ask for an absentee ballot by filling out the request form — which is available online at www.ncsbe.gov/Voting-Options/Absentee-Voting — and providing information including either their driver’s license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number. The form can be sent to the voter, or to the relative or legal guardian who plans to help them vote. That request form then has to be signed and either mailed or hand-delivered to the proper county elections office, by Feb. 25 at the latest.
Voters in the military, as well as civilians who are living outside the country for any other reason, are also allowed to fax or email their absentee ballot request forms to the state. Contact information is on the request form.
As long as the request form is filled out properly and received by elections officials by Feb. 25, the voter will be sent a mail-in ballot, with instructions for completing it properly to make sure that it will count.
The actual ballot then has to be either mailed or hand-delivered to the proper county elections office. For people planning to drop off their ballots, the deadline is 5 p.m. on Election Day — which for the primary is March 3. For people planning to mail their ballots in, they have to be postmarked no later than Election Day in order to be counted.
What is there to vote for?
While the Democratic presidential primary has dominated national headlines, it’s far from the only closely contested race North Carolinians will be voting on in the primary.
Republican President Donald Trump will also have two primary challengers, after the state elections board overrode the N.C. GOP’s attempt to make Trump’s name the only one on the ballot.
North Carolina voters will pick a U.S. senator in 2020. Republican incumbent Sen. Thom Tillis will face several largely unknown primary challengers. There is more intrigue on the other side, with five Democrats jostling to be on the ballot this November.
While the Senate race is expected to come down to the general election, that’s not necessarily true of the rest of North Carolina’s congressional contests. Most, if not all, of North Carolina’s 13 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives will likely be decided in the primary, experts say, given the way the districts have been drawn to avoid competitive races.
For two congressional seats around Raleigh and Greensboro, whoever wins the Democratic primary is expected to flip a Republican-held seat in November. In Western North Carolina, where Republican Rep. Mark Meadows made a last-minute decision not to seek election, 12 Republicans and five Democrats are seeking to replace Meadows.
There are also interesting primaries for several seats on the Council of State, which is made up of elected officials who run parts of state government. In addition to high-profile offices like governor and lieutenant governor, the people seeking to lead the state departments of education, agriculture and more will be on the primary ballot.
To find out exactly what races will appear on your ballot wherever you live, you can find a sample ballot by entering your name at https://vt.ncsbe.gov/RegLkup.
For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Domecast politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it on Megaphone, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts.
This story was originally published January 16, 2020 at 6:00 AM with the headline "The 2020 primaries are starting. Here’s how to vote in North Carolina.."
